Joan Kendall-Rozman (Admissions) is the first point of contact at Northern for many prospective students, their parents and grandparents. She said she loves the human interaction her job provides. “I couldn’t imagine being in any position that’s better than this just because of all the contact with students,” she said.

Her primary duties are to greet visitors, answer the phone and route mail. On a busy day, she fields up to 150 phone calls.

“My main goal is to try to find out what people need and forward them on to the place they need to get answers.”

She opens all of the office mail, which includes applications, transcripts and letters with questions about NMU. As a Marquette native, Kendall-Rozman said she feels equipped to field a variety of questions, ranging from restaurant recommendations to campus concerns.

Kendall-Rozman has worked in admissions for 15 years. She previously served 11 years in several other departments, including education and the counseling center. Prior to being hired at NMU, she was employed as a legal secretary.

“Coming to campus, I really felt my niche, especially working with students. I find that helps keep me young. Being around young people is energizing.”

Before the admissions office moved into C.B. Hedgcock, she worked on the third floor of Cohodas. On one occasion that remains fresh in her memory, a couple of students came into the office on rollerblades. They rolled in to take care of their business and rolled right out, she said.

When she is not working, Kendall-Rozman enjoys quieter activities. She likes to read biographies and mystery novels or watch comedies and foreign films. She also does crafts with rubber stamps and is interested in taking up scrap booking.

She attributes her ability to help others to being a parent and growing up in Marquette. She incorporates personal experience from sending all of her children to NMU and stories students have shared with her into the advice she gives prospective students and their parents.

Her three grown children and three grandchildren prepared her for the role of office “grandmother.” She supplies students with necessities such as band-aids and spot remover and gives them a shoulder to cry on or serves as a sounding board.

Kendall-Rozman said it’s ironic that when her oldest daughter graduated from Marquette Senior High School in 1988, the ceremony was held in the former Hedgcock Fieldhouse. Now she reports to work at the renovated version of that same building every day.